Badminton at the World Games
Badminton was introduced and only played at the 1981 World Games. The badminton events of World Games I were held on July 25–28, 1981, at the San Jose Civic Auditorium in San Jose, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara. China, in its first summer multi-sport event since the 1936 Summer Olympics, competed in badminton only, winning four of the five gold medals. Seventeen of the countries at these Games participated in badminton, making it one of the most represented sports. The players executive of the International Badminton Federation, Ciro Ciniglio, expressed disappointment at the lack of media coverage of badminton, saying, "We have many world champions competing here and... were hoping all these great players would draw crowds.... The United States over the years has had very good players, some of the finest. It was our hope to help the sport gain popularity in the United states by showcasing all this fine talent."
Medalists
Sources:Results
Men's singles
First roundLiem Swie King, bye; S. Egbeyemi def. K. Zeniya, 15-1, 15-4; S. Modi won by default over J. Sidek ; R. Stevens def. A. Salazar, 15-4, 15-7; Morten Frost Hansen def. P. Johnson, 15-3, 15-4; G. Valdez won by default over M. Sidek ; Stephen Baddeley def. G. Higgins 15-7, 15-8; M. Hadiyanto won by default over J. P. Baudoin
Second round
M. Hadiyanto d. Stephen Baddeley ; plus other matches
Women's singles
First roundJane Webster d. U. Kinard, 11-7, 11-6; A. Tokuda ' won by default over J. Youngberg ; Yun Ja Kim won by default over L. I. Ivana ; C. Carton, d. C. Blackhouse, 11-7, 11-12, 11-7; Y. Yonekura won by default over A. Ghia
Second round'''
Sun Ai Hwang d. G. Edwards, 11-0, 11-1; L. Blumer won by default over W. Carter ; L. S. Yeng won by default over V. Wiharjo ; Tōkairin d. Webster, 11-7, 11-6; Kim d. Carton, 12-11, 11-1; Lene Koppen,, d. Yonekura, 11-3, 11-3; Gillian Gilks, won by default over T. Sumirah ; Zhang Ailing, won by default over S. Skillings.